Short Abstract:

This roundtable will look at the impact of the Portuguese overseas expansion on the acquisitions of Portugal’s foremost nobleman, Duke Teodósio de Bragança (d. 1563), and whether his possessions can be categorized as a “collection of the world”.

Long Abstract:

The focus of this research project is an extraordinary inventory, dated 1564-67, which describes the entire contents of the estate of Duke Teodósio, the most important Portuguese aristocrat next to the king, at the precise moment in which Portugal was being transformed from a small country on the periphery of Europe to an imperial maritime power. It is largest 16th-century inventory to survive in Portugal (ca. 1,300 pages and 6,303 entries), and the richness and complexity of the document has attracted the interest of a large interdisciplinary research team comprising historians of art, architecture, society, culture, science, politics and economics.

This roundtable will consider the impact of the Portuguese overseas expansion on the duke’s acquisitions, by looking at how these items are described, categorized and evaluated in economic terms, as well as how they were distributed throughout the ducal palace, integrated into daily life, and displayed in court ceremonial. Jessica Hallett will introduce the project and Nuno Senos will lead a discussion about the problems the team currently faces in interpreting this material as comprising a “collection of the world”.